Magical Basics
Understanding Magic Magic is the use of, creation of and organization of a type of matter known as Mana. Yes, I'm sure you've heard that term before. Has it ever been explained to you fully? Most likely not, so I'll do it now in the context of the 776 Gods. MC: Mana Count. This number shows how much mana is stored or can be stored within it. (10 Mana = 1 US Fluid Oz) MRR: The rate at which a material will regenerate Mana. An object whose MRR is higher than its MDR will regenerate Mana. An object whose MRR and MDR are equal will neither regenerate or lose Mana. And lastly, an object whose MDR higher will lose Mana. MDR: The rate at which Mana decays in the said material. This is the main function of Magic canceling items, as they have an extremely high MDR. UMC: A container that holds useable Mana, thus called: Useable Mana Container. There are four types of Mana on the realm: Stable, Unstable, Aberrant, and Anti-Mana. First we'll talk about Stable Mana. Stable Mana is used in all Spells, evil or good, powerful or weak, in order to conjure up whatever you're using(Fire, Water, and nearly anything else). Unstable Mana is our second subject. Any space where Stable Mana is, this is never far behind. It's the aftermath of used Mana. So, that fireball you shot only did damage because of the Unstable Mana that had contact with the guy you wrecked back there. The heat from the fireball came from the decaying Mana, which in a large scale, would have exploded violently. Apart from being a byproduct of Mana, it's also naturally around you in small amounts. It can be used to make explosives, if used correctly. If you can condense it, pack it in a Rune, and carry it without it bursting, you have a successful Mana bomb. Abberant Mana is our third subject. This strange and deadly Mana is found when Stable or Unstable Mana is fermented. This happens if the Mana cannot move for a long time, making it literally rot. This kind of Mana can actually be seen, and should be avoided. If you breathe it in, ingest it, or otherwise get it inside your system, it'll rot you from the inside out. There are some mages who use it, and can "safely" be around it. This is because they've already taken in the lethal amount, and can't feel the effects. This allows them to do research on how to use it, or at least make it safe. Last, but not least, is Anti-Mana. Anti-Mana is the absence of any other Mana, and not only this, it destroys Mana. Not much else is known about Anti-Mana. There are some spell types that do not use a specific Mana type. Obsidian Obsidian is a magical resistor. While being brittle, obsidian resists 90% of all Magic and Mana that flows against it. Quartz Quartz is a magical conductor. Quartz causes Magic and Mana to flow through it faster, and can amplify it under the right circumstances. Conversions 1 Mana = 400 Watts The Mechanics of How Magic is Learned(First time only) Base players, with no magical knowledge, start with a -15 in learning all magic. After this, magic learning traits, such as Prodigy's Grasp, apply. The previous example would bring it to -11. From here, you roll their attempt to learn magic, using a D20. If they roll under a 1, they simply fail, with no other effects. This is because they can't even use magic, so a critical failure wouldn't make sense. However, if they roll above a 1, they will have a miniscule success. This will add a permanent +1, to negate the negative effect. They will continue to get +1's until they have a 0 modifier(without considering stat boosts). Once they reach base 0, you can apply the Prodigy's Grasp example to get to a +4 modifier. Throughout this process, it is impossible to roll a critical failure, as the player is unable to even use Magic consistently. At this point, the player gains the "Basic Magic" skill. This negates the need to go through the previous process. The Mechanics of How New Magics are Learned(Subsequent times) After gaining the "Basic Magic" skill, the player can officially learn actual Magic. On attempting to learn a new type of Magic, the process goes by the following. Each attempt requires a D20 roll. A 1 equates to complete failure. A 20 equates to a masterful attempt, at the player's level. There are quirks to this system: If a player rolls below a 1, either due to an environmental effect, stats or a debuff, this classifies as a critical failure. This means that may hurt themselves or those around them, as they've failed so spectacularly. This goes by a linear scale. For every -1 below 1, the player gets a -25% buff to the positive effects, and a +25% to the negative effects. If a player rolls above a 20, due to an environmental effect, stats or a buff, this classifies as a critical success. This means they will amplify any positive effects of the magic, and will lessen the negatives. This goes by a linear scale. For every +1 above 20, the player gets a +25% buff to the positive effects, and a -25% to the negative effects. After having used the Magic for a while, which is determined by the current GM, upon their next roll in that magic that rolls above a 15, they can obtain a skill in that magic(Ex: "Basic Fire Magic", "Expert Nova Magic", etc...). These skills act as a permanent boost to that type of magic. You can see the boosts below, in the Magic Skills section. An important point to be made is the fact that if a player specifically casts a small or weak spell, a critical failure or success will not affect the overall power/size of the resulting spell, except for the 25% changes. Considering the small or weak aspects, this will barely affect the spell. Applying Magic Levels and Tiers Each Magic type has a tier, and a level. For instance, the Fire spell "Inferno" is a Basic Tier, because it's Fire Magic, and has a Level of 7. The Tier(Basic, Advanced, Expert, Master, etc...) negatively affects the resulting spell. While they're listed on the Types of Magic page, they will also be listed here: Basic Magic has no modifier. Advanced Magic has a -2 modifier to learning any Advanced Magic. Expert Magic has a -5 modifier to learning any Expert Magic. Master Magic has a -10 modifier to learning any Master Magic. These modifiers can be negated by continually practicing in the respective tier, eventually gaining a Tier respective skill. Along with the Tier, the Level of a spell must be taken into account. If a new Fire mage were to attempt a Level 7 spell, they would innately have a -7 modifier, making the spell significantly harder to cast properly. The only way to improve is to practice. For every 17 or above you get in a TYPE of Magic, you get a skill point. Upon accruing enough skill points, you get a new skill in that Magic type. This is useful for opening the way to higher Leveled spells. So, as an example, Alex is a new Fire mage. Alex would have a -5 modifier to casting Blazeball. Alex would also have a -5, if attempting to cast Aqua Spiral, from Water Magic. However, Alex would have a -9 attempting to cast Dragonfire, from Dragon Magic, as Dragon Magic is Expert Tier(-5) and Dragonfire is Level 4(-4). Magic Skills After having used the Magic for a while, which is determined by the current GM, upon their next roll in that magic that rolls above a 15, they can obtain a skill in that magic(Ex: "Basic Fire Magic", "Expert Nova Magic", etc...). These skills act as a permanent boost to that type of magic. Skill Levels Basic Basic knowledge gives no notable buffs to any specific Magic, and merely denotes that the player knows the Magic. Intermediate Intermediate knowledge of a specific Magic causes spells of that Magic to have their effects increased by 5%. Advanced Advanced knowledge of a specific Magic causes spells of that Magic to have their effects increased by 10%. Additionally, the player has a 3% resistance to that Magic. Expert Expert knowledge of a specific Magic causes spells of that Magic to have their effects increased by 20%, and the player has a 5% resistance to that Magic. Additionally, that Magic's spells cost 2% less to cast. Master Master knowledge of a specific Magic causes spells of that Magic to have their effects increased by 40%, and the player has a 7% resistance to that Magic. Additionally, that Magic's spells cost 4% less to cast. Magus Magus-level knowledge of a specific Magic causes spells of that Magic to have their effects increased by 100%, and the player has a 15% resistance to that Magic. Additionally, that Magic's spells cost 8% less to cast.